Cowboys Gameday: Five things to watch for

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September 22, 2012
: Updated: September 22, 2012 8:26pm

Tony Romo has thrown four touchdown passes with two interceptions in the Cowboys' first two games. Three of those touchdowns came in the season-opening victory over the Giants. Kevin P. Casey/Associated Press

Photo By Associated Press

Cowboys defensive back Brandon Carr (39) will face a very physical receiver on Sunday in the Buccaneers' Vincent Jackson. Denis Poroy/Associated Press

Photo By JERRY LARA/San Antonio Express-News

The Cowboys are back at home in Cowboys Stadium in Arlington after playing before an unfriendly crowd last weekend in Seattle.

Photo By Brad Loper/Associated Press

Ryan Cook (left) is set to start at center on Sunday in place of Phil Costa. Brad Loper/AP/Dallas Morning News

Anthony Spencer (93) has been a key player in the Cowboys' defense in the first two weeks of the season. Kin Man Hui/Express-News

Here's what Express-News staff writer Tom Orsborn says you should keep an eye on during today's game:

1.
Big numbers from Romo: History says Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo likely will have a big day against the Bucs' defense. In going 3-0 against Tampa Bay, Romo has completed 70.1 percent of his passes for 908 yards with 11 touchdowns, no interceptions and a 144.8 passer rating.

“No specific reason,” Romo said when asked why he's been able to torch the Bucs. “We just executed well.”

Another reason to believe Romo could sizzle: Tampa Bay yielded a franchise-record 604 yards in losing 41-34 to the New York Giants last week and is last in the league in pass defense, surrendering an average of 400.5 yards per game. Eli Manning finished with 510 passing yards, second-most in Giants history.

But Romo said film study has him convinced the Bucs' defense is better than what the statistical evidence says, although it's hard to dismiss Manning attempting 51 passes without getting sacked.

“You see how many yards and points they've given up, and you expect to see something different on tape,” Romo said. “But when you watch them, they are a good unit. They play well together. It's skewed a little bit because the Giants got behind, so they threw it a lot. It's too quick to say they have given up a ton of pass plays and that it's going to be duplicated over and over again.”

“Off the line of scrimmage ... he's more of a bully, so to speak,” Carr said of the 6-foot-5, 230-pound Jackson, who has nine catches for 175 yards and a TD. “When the ball goes up, it's either he's catching it or nobody's catching it.”

Fortunately for the Cowboys, Carr is one of the league's most physical corners. Another plus for Dallas: He's no stranger to Jackson, having faced him the last four seasons in the AFC West.

“It looks like he's picking up where he left off in San Diego,” said Carr, who left Kansas City to sign a five-year $50.1 million free-agent contract with Dallas.

Jackson signed a five-year, $55.55 million deal with Tampa Bay in March after posting three 1,000-yard seasons in his seven years with the Chargers.

“I like checking big receivers,” the 6-foot, 210-pound Carr said. “It should be a good matchup for me, a good test. I'm ready for the challenge.”

3.
Crowd support: In beating the Cowboys 27-7 last week, the Seahawks got a huge lift from their fans at CenturyLink Field. That was no surprise, considering Seattle has some of the loudest fans in the league.

It's been a different story for Dallas at civilized Cowboys Stadium. After two weeks on the road, the Cowboys open their home schedule today, but that's no guarantee of victory.

The Cowboys are 36-16-1 all-time in home openers but only 1-2 at their $1.2 billion palace. Overall at the Arlington venue, Dallas is a pedestrian 13-11, including a disappointing 7-9 over the past two seasons.

So will it be any different at home this season for the Cowboys, who follow up today's game with a Monday night home outing against Chicago on Oct. 1? And how much emphasis is being placed on winning at home knowing the road schedule includes stops in Baltimore in October, Atlanta and Philadelphia in November, and Cincinnati and Washington in December?

“We think it's really important to win your home games,” coach Jason Garrett said. “It should be a friendly environment to you. We talked a lot about the hostile environments we had the first couple of weeks, going up to New York and then to Seattle. There should be a flip side to that where you feel better about yourself playing at home.

“But, at the end of the day, with the Tampa Bay Bucs coming in, we are going to have a three-hour football game. And whether you are playing at our place, their place, on the moon or in the parking lot, you just have to be ready to play.

“So we emphasize that to our team a lot, but we don't talk a lot about streaks. We talk a lot about now. If you take care of the now over and over and over again, you typically get into a pretty good streak.”

A former Oklahoma standout selected third overall by Tampa Bay in 2010, the 6-4, 300-pound McCoy seems poised for a breakout season after putting together two strong outings. In the opener, he sacked Panthers quarterback Cam Newton twice and nearly dropped him two other times. He also has been tough against the run, helping the Bucs yield an average of only 104 yards on the ground per game to rank third in the league.

At 6-6, 325-pounds, Cook has a healthy size advantage. But the key to stopping McCoy will lie in whether the seven-year veteran can move quickly into position after snapping the ball.

5.
Spencer continuing to shine: Outside linebacker Anthony Spencer has been a steady performer for the Cowboys through the first two games, recording seven tackles in the opener and two sacks in Week 2. Look for the trend to continue this week with him going up against Bucs right tackle Jeremy Trueblood, who sat out the Giants game last week with an ankle injury.

The Cowboys will need a big game from Spencer because Pro Bowl outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware could have his hands full over on the weak side with tackle Donald Penn and Pro Bowl guard Carl Nicks.

Prediction

Under ordinary circumstances, picking the feisty Bucs to upset the unpredictable Cowboys wouldn't be a stretch at all. But Tampa Bay is playing on the road for the second straight week, and Dallas has a lot to prove after getting embarrassed last week in Seattle.